Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ follows the quest of desperate people trying to win a series of games to make more money than they can in their entire lifetime. This desperation leads them to do bad things, and yet, there are some who hold on to their good side for as long as possible. This, however, can be a major drawback, and Cho Hyun-ju (Player 120) suffers from it. She comes to the games with the hopes of getting enough money for her gender-affirming surgery. While most people around her turn ruthless and harbour an increasing bloodlust, she remains one of the only few to be steadfast in their morals. In the end, this becomes her undoing. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Player 120’s Loyalty Leads to Her Death
In the second iteration of ‘Squid Game,’ Cho Hyun-ju (Player 120) emerges as one of the strongest players. While she might not be ruthless, she is a physically and mentally capable person who knows how to manoeuvre her way through a tight spot. What makes her an even better person is this advantage doesn’t make her cocky or selfish. She believes in teamwork and, no matter what, she never abandons her teammates. The same thing happens during the game of Keys and Knives.
At the beginning of the game, Hyun-ju is sorted into the blue group, which means that she receives a key that can open doors. She has to find a way out of the maze or hide long enough for the clock to run out. If not, she will be found out by the people of the red group and be killed. Inside the maze, she quickly forms a group with Geum-ja (Player 149) and Jun-hee (222), who are among the most vulnerable ones in the group. Teaming up with them slows her down, but she doesn’t care about that. In fact, when the time comes and a red group player tries to get his shot at one of them, Hyun-ju fights him off. Things get worse when Jun-hee goes into labor.
There is a point when Geum-ja asks Hyun-ju to leave, stating that she doesn’t want her to be bogged down. However, Hyun-ju refuses to abandon her friends, especially now that there is a baby in the picture. Eventually, she decides to leave and look for the exit. Previously, Geum-ja and Jun-hee had entrusted their keys to her, seeing that all three of them had different keys which could open different doors. When Hyun-ju finds the exit, she discovers that all three keys are needed to open it. Having opened the door, she is about to step into her freedom when she realises that her friends are still back there. Had it been anyone else, they wouldn’t have hesitated for one second to step forward and exit the game, but Hyun-ju’s loyalty pulls her back, and that costs her her life.
Hyun-ju is Killed by the Greed and Bloodlust of Others
While Hyun-ju and other people in the blue group focus on surviving and getting out of the game before the clock runs out, or before they are found, the red group people go into a murderous frenzy. According to the rule, each of them has to kill at least one person to pass to the next level. Most players stick to this rule and kill one person and move on. But then, there are people like Nam-gyu (Player 124) who are so into killing people that they decide to kill as many people as they can. He explains to Myung-gi (Player 333) that the more people they kill, the more money will collect in the final prize. Fewer people also means more chances of winning for them. Moreover, there is no rule that says that they only have to kill one person. In fact, they can kill as many people as they can.
While both of them have had their kills, Myung-gi understands exactly what Nam-gyu is talking about and agrees to his plan. Together, they go around killing as many people from the blue group as possible. This also means that the others in the red group will have fewer choices to kill from, and in the end, for as many blues they kill, the red will also die, reducing the number of players twofold. Meanwhile, Myung-gi is also on the lookout for Jun-hee because he promised her he would find her and help her exit the game safely.
This search leads him to Hyun-ju, who walks away from the exit and back into the game to take Geum-ja and Jun-hee with her. Because Myung-gi doesn’t know that Hyun-ju is helping Jun-hee, he sees her as just another player to kill. While she is busy telling her friends that she has found the exit and they can all escape for good, Myung-gi stabs her in the back. Because he was aiming to kill, the wound is fatal, and Hyun-ju is not able to recover from it. She falls to the ground and soon enough, life passes out of her body, and she is declared dead, reinstating the fact that ‘Squid Game’ is not a place where the pure of heart can thrive.
